21-2479-cv (L) Daniel v. N.Y.S. Dept. of Health
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
SUMMARY ORDER
RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.
At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 13th day of May, two thousand twenty-four.
PRESENT: JON O. NEWMAN, JOSÉ A. CABRANES, RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., Circuit Judges. ------------------------------------------------------------------ JEAN R. DANIEL,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v. Nos. 21-2479-cv; 23-323-cv
JOHN DOE 1 THROUGH JOHN DOE 10, representing any additional agency, the State of New York, or any additional public and judicial official(s) that is jointly liable,
Defendants, N.Y.S. DEPT. OF HEALTH, ALJ KIMBERLY A. O’BRIEN, OFFICE OF THE MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL (OMIG), THE DEPUTY MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL, DANIEL V. COYNE, ASST. OF MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL, STEPHANIE E. PATON, RN, WILLIAM ROGERS, EXECUTIVE ASST. AT THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY, THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN,
Defendant-Appellees. ------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR APPELLANT: Jean R. Daniel, pro se, Patchogue, NY
FOR APPELLEES N.Y.S. DEPT. OF Barbara D. Underwood, HEALTH, ALJ KIMBERLY A. O’BRIEN, Solicitor General, Judith N. OFFICE OF THE MEDICAID Vale, Deputy Solicitor INSPECTOR GENERAL (OMIG), THE General, Kwame N. Akosah, DEPUTY MEDICAID INSPECTOR Assistant Solicitor General, for GENERAL, DANIEL V. COYNE, ASST. Letitia James, Attorney OF MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL, General, State of New York, STEPHANIE E. PATON, RN: New York, NY
2 FOR APPELLEES WILLIAM ROGERS, Robert M. Calica, Judah EXECUTIVE ASST. AT THE TOWN OF Serfaty, Rosenberg Calica & BROOKHAVEN DEPT. OF PUBLIC Birney LLP, Garden City, NY SAFETY, THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN:
Appeal from an order and a judgment of the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of New York (Diane Gujarati, Judge).
UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED,
AND DECREED that the appeal in No. 21-2479-cv is DISMISSED and the
judgment of the District Court in No. 23-323-cv is AFFIRMED.
Plaintiff-Appellant Jean R. Daniel, proceeding pro se, appeals from an order
and a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
New York (Gujarati, J.) denying his motion for a preliminary injunction and
dismissing his complaint, which principally claimed that the New York State
Department of Health, Town of Brookhaven, and several state and municipal
officials violated his Fifth, Seventh, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. We
assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and the record of prior
proceedings, to which we refer only as necessary to explain our decision to
dismiss in part and affirm in part.
Daniel alleged that various state and municipal defendants violated his
constitutional rights by subjecting him to state administrative proceedings in
3 connection with his misconduct as a Medicaid transportation provider. In
addition to damages, Daniel sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief,
including a stay of the state administrative proceedings pending the District
Court’s disposition of his federal case. The District Court denied preliminary
injunctive relief and, adopting the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge
(Shields, M.J.), dismissed the case.
Among other things, the District Court determined that Daniel’s request
for a stay of the state administrative proceedings was barred by Younger v. Harris,
401 U.S. 37 (1971). The District Court also dismissed (1) the claims against the
Department of Health and state officials (together, the “State Defendants”) as
barred by the Eleventh Amendment and (2) the claims against the Town of
Brookhaven and municipal employee Williams Rogers (together, “Town
Defendants”) for lack of merit.
We previously consolidated for disposition Daniel’s appeals of the denial
of preliminary injunctive relief and of the dismissal of his case.
I. Denial of Preliminary Injunctive Relief
We dismiss Daniel’s appeal in No. 21-2479-cv, which challenges the
District Court’s denial of preliminary injunctive relief. An appeal becomes moot
4 “when, by virtue of an intervening event, a court of appeals cannot grant any
effectual relief whatever in favor of the appellant.” Calderon v. Moore, 518 U.S.
149, 150 (1996) (quotation marks omitted). Here, because the claims underlying
Daniel’s preliminary injunction appeal have been dismissed, the interim
injunctive relief he sought is no longer an available remedy. Moreover, because
the District Court’s order dismissing Daniel’s claims is a final judgment, its prior
order denying his preliminary injunction motion has merged with the final
decision. As a result, we are deprived of jurisdiction over his interlocutory
appeal. See Shannon v. Gen. Elec. Co., 186 F.3d 186, 192 (2d Cir. 1999) (Sotomayor,
J.); Scheff v. Banks, No. 22-2439-CV, 2023 WL 4715174, at *2 (2d Cir. July 25, 2023).
II. Dismissal 1
Turning to appeal No. 23-323-cv, we affirm the judgment dismissing
Daniel’s claims against the State Defendants and the Town Defendants.
1 We have jurisdiction over the appeal of the dismissal order. Although the District Court granted Daniel leave to amend within thirty days, Daniel failed to file an amended complaint within that time. The order dismissing the complaint is therefore final. See Festa v. Loc. 3 Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 905 F.2d 35, 36–37 (2d Cir. 1990). Likewise, although Daniel filed a notice of appeal before final judgment was entered, we consider his appeal timely filed after the dismissal became final. See id. Finally, the District Court’s failure to set forth a final judgment in a separate document does not affect the validity of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(7)(B). 5 A. State Defendants
“’In the main, federal courts are obliged to decide cases within the scope of
federal jurisdiction.’” Trump v. Vance, 941 F.3d 631, 637 (2d Cir. 2019) (quoting
Sprint Commc'ns, Inc. v. Jacobs, 571 U.S. 69, 72 (2013)). “[O]nly exceptional
circumstances justify a federal court's refusal to decide a case in deference to the
States.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). Under Younger, however, federal courts
must refrain from interfering with three narrow categories of state proceedings,
so long as those proceedings implicate an important state interest and afford the
federal plaintiff an adequate opportunity for judicial review of their federal
constitutional claim. See Cavanaugh v.
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21-2479-cv (L) Daniel v. N.Y.S. Dept. of Health
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
SUMMARY ORDER
RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.
At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 13th day of May, two thousand twenty-four.
PRESENT: JON O. NEWMAN, JOSÉ A. CABRANES, RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., Circuit Judges. ------------------------------------------------------------------ JEAN R. DANIEL,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v. Nos. 21-2479-cv; 23-323-cv
JOHN DOE 1 THROUGH JOHN DOE 10, representing any additional agency, the State of New York, or any additional public and judicial official(s) that is jointly liable,
Defendants, N.Y.S. DEPT. OF HEALTH, ALJ KIMBERLY A. O’BRIEN, OFFICE OF THE MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL (OMIG), THE DEPUTY MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL, DANIEL V. COYNE, ASST. OF MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL, STEPHANIE E. PATON, RN, WILLIAM ROGERS, EXECUTIVE ASST. AT THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY, THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN,
Defendant-Appellees. ------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR APPELLANT: Jean R. Daniel, pro se, Patchogue, NY
FOR APPELLEES N.Y.S. DEPT. OF Barbara D. Underwood, HEALTH, ALJ KIMBERLY A. O’BRIEN, Solicitor General, Judith N. OFFICE OF THE MEDICAID Vale, Deputy Solicitor INSPECTOR GENERAL (OMIG), THE General, Kwame N. Akosah, DEPUTY MEDICAID INSPECTOR Assistant Solicitor General, for GENERAL, DANIEL V. COYNE, ASST. Letitia James, Attorney OF MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL, General, State of New York, STEPHANIE E. PATON, RN: New York, NY
2 FOR APPELLEES WILLIAM ROGERS, Robert M. Calica, Judah EXECUTIVE ASST. AT THE TOWN OF Serfaty, Rosenberg Calica & BROOKHAVEN DEPT. OF PUBLIC Birney LLP, Garden City, NY SAFETY, THE TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN:
Appeal from an order and a judgment of the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of New York (Diane Gujarati, Judge).
UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED,
AND DECREED that the appeal in No. 21-2479-cv is DISMISSED and the
judgment of the District Court in No. 23-323-cv is AFFIRMED.
Plaintiff-Appellant Jean R. Daniel, proceeding pro se, appeals from an order
and a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
New York (Gujarati, J.) denying his motion for a preliminary injunction and
dismissing his complaint, which principally claimed that the New York State
Department of Health, Town of Brookhaven, and several state and municipal
officials violated his Fifth, Seventh, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. We
assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and the record of prior
proceedings, to which we refer only as necessary to explain our decision to
dismiss in part and affirm in part.
Daniel alleged that various state and municipal defendants violated his
constitutional rights by subjecting him to state administrative proceedings in
3 connection with his misconduct as a Medicaid transportation provider. In
addition to damages, Daniel sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief,
including a stay of the state administrative proceedings pending the District
Court’s disposition of his federal case. The District Court denied preliminary
injunctive relief and, adopting the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge
(Shields, M.J.), dismissed the case.
Among other things, the District Court determined that Daniel’s request
for a stay of the state administrative proceedings was barred by Younger v. Harris,
401 U.S. 37 (1971). The District Court also dismissed (1) the claims against the
Department of Health and state officials (together, the “State Defendants”) as
barred by the Eleventh Amendment and (2) the claims against the Town of
Brookhaven and municipal employee Williams Rogers (together, “Town
Defendants”) for lack of merit.
We previously consolidated for disposition Daniel’s appeals of the denial
of preliminary injunctive relief and of the dismissal of his case.
I. Denial of Preliminary Injunctive Relief
We dismiss Daniel’s appeal in No. 21-2479-cv, which challenges the
District Court’s denial of preliminary injunctive relief. An appeal becomes moot
4 “when, by virtue of an intervening event, a court of appeals cannot grant any
effectual relief whatever in favor of the appellant.” Calderon v. Moore, 518 U.S.
149, 150 (1996) (quotation marks omitted). Here, because the claims underlying
Daniel’s preliminary injunction appeal have been dismissed, the interim
injunctive relief he sought is no longer an available remedy. Moreover, because
the District Court’s order dismissing Daniel’s claims is a final judgment, its prior
order denying his preliminary injunction motion has merged with the final
decision. As a result, we are deprived of jurisdiction over his interlocutory
appeal. See Shannon v. Gen. Elec. Co., 186 F.3d 186, 192 (2d Cir. 1999) (Sotomayor,
J.); Scheff v. Banks, No. 22-2439-CV, 2023 WL 4715174, at *2 (2d Cir. July 25, 2023).
II. Dismissal 1
Turning to appeal No. 23-323-cv, we affirm the judgment dismissing
Daniel’s claims against the State Defendants and the Town Defendants.
1 We have jurisdiction over the appeal of the dismissal order. Although the District Court granted Daniel leave to amend within thirty days, Daniel failed to file an amended complaint within that time. The order dismissing the complaint is therefore final. See Festa v. Loc. 3 Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 905 F.2d 35, 36–37 (2d Cir. 1990). Likewise, although Daniel filed a notice of appeal before final judgment was entered, we consider his appeal timely filed after the dismissal became final. See id. Finally, the District Court’s failure to set forth a final judgment in a separate document does not affect the validity of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(7)(B). 5 A. State Defendants
“’In the main, federal courts are obliged to decide cases within the scope of
federal jurisdiction.’” Trump v. Vance, 941 F.3d 631, 637 (2d Cir. 2019) (quoting
Sprint Commc'ns, Inc. v. Jacobs, 571 U.S. 69, 72 (2013)). “[O]nly exceptional
circumstances justify a federal court's refusal to decide a case in deference to the
States.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). Under Younger, however, federal courts
must refrain from interfering with three narrow categories of state proceedings,
so long as those proceedings implicate an important state interest and afford the
federal plaintiff an adequate opportunity for judicial review of their federal
constitutional claim. See Cavanaugh v. Geballe, 28 F.4th 428, 430 (2d Cir. 2022).
One such category is “certain civil enforcement proceedings,” id. at 432; see
Sprint, 571 U.S. at 78, including the administrative enforcement proceedings at
issue here, see Sprint, 571 U.S. at 78–80 & n.6; Cavanaugh, 28 F.4th at 430; Spargo v.
N.Y. State Comm'n on Jud. Conduct, 351 F.3d 65, 74–75 (2d Cir. 2003). Such
enforcement proceedings “are characteristically initiated to sanction the federal
plaintiff.” Sprint, 571 U.S. at 79. The Younger doctrine “is also subject to
exceptions of its own in cases of bad faith, harassment, or other extraordinary
circumstances.” Trump, 941 F.3d at 637 (quotation marks omitted).
6 As noted, the District Court invoked Younger to abstain from exercising
federal jurisdiction over Daniel’s request to enjoin or otherwise interfere with his
state administrative proceedings. Those proceedings, initiated to sanction
Daniel, implicate important state interests concerning the administration of its
Medicaid program and offer an adequate opportunity for judicial review.
Beechwood Restorative Care Ctr. v. Leeds, 436 F.3d 147, 156–57 (2d Cir. 2006); 18
N.Y.C.R.R. § 519.22(e). Moreover, Daniel does not allege that the proceedings
themselves were initiated in bad faith. We therefore conclude that the District
Court properly abstained under Younger.
We also affirm the District Court’s dismissal of any remaining claims
against the State Defendants because the Eleventh Amendment bars suit by a
citizen of a State against that State, its agencies, and its officials named in their
official capacities. 2 Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 100, 104
(1984); Ying Jing Gan v. City of N.Y., 996 F.2d 522, 529 (2d Cir. 1993). New York
has not waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity, and Daniel sued the state
2 The claims against Administrative Law Judge O’Brien are separately barred by absolute judicial immunity. See Montero v. Travis, 171 F.3d 757, 760 (2d Cir. 1999).
7 proceedings procedurally deficient and thus violate his due process rights. In
any event, we agree with the District Court that the administrative proceedings
provided Daniel notice and an opportunity to be heard, and the availability of an
Article 78 proceeding provides Daniel a “wholly adequate post-deprivation
remedy for due process purposes.” Locurto v. Safir, 264 F.3d 154, 175 (2d Cir.
2001); see 18 N.Y.C.R.R. §§ 519.8 (outlining rights at the hearing), 519.18
(outlining hearing procedure), 519.22(e) (requiring that the appellant be informed
of judicial review).
Daniel’s Equal Protection claim rests on the theory that he was
intentionally treated differently from others as a “class of one.” See Village of
Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562, 564 (2000). We also affirm the District Court’s
dismissal of that claim because Daniel did not identify any similarly situated
comparators who were treated differently by the Town Defendants.
C. Leave to Amend
Finally, Daniel argues that the District Court failed to consider his motion
for leave to amend and his proposed second amended complaint. We are not
persuaded and therefore affirm. First, Daniel did not take advantage of the
District Court’s decision to grant limited leave to amend. Second, and in any
9 event, his claims were either barred or without merit — defects that, in this
context, could not have been cured with better pleading. Any proposed
amendment would thus have been futile. See Terry v. Incorporated Village of
Patchogue, 826 F.3d 631, 633 (2d Cir. 2016).
We have considered Daniel’s remaining arguments and conclude that they
are without merit. For the foregoing reasons, the appeal in No. 21-2479-cv is
DISMISSED and the judgment of the District Court in No. 23-323-cv is
AFFIRMED.
FOR THE COURT: Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk of Court